Hubert Tworzecki

Media Use and Political Engagement in Three New Democracies Malaise versus Mobilization in the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland

Political communications literature has long been concerned with the question of whether media exposure results in symptoms of “malaise”—disaffection and withdrawal from politics—or, alternatively, whether it can mobilize people for political activity. Thus far, the results of research into this question have been inconclusive and at times contradictory in nature. However, nearly all such studies have been conducted in the context of the United States or other advanced democracies, and in these countries media use competes with a variety of other—perhaps much stronger—factors influencing political engagement, such as well-developed partisanship, strong group loyalties, lifelong personal experiences with the political system, and so forth. We chose to investigate the “malaise versus mobilization” question in the context of three new democracies—the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland—where the above-mentioned factors have not yet had a chance to mature, and where media use could potentially have an especially strong impact on attitudes and behavior. The project utilizes a series of comparable questions on national random-sample surveys carried out in each country during the parliamentary election campaigns of 2005 and 2006 to map party supporters and media audiences, and assess questions about malaise versus mobilization. Our maps of party supporters and media audiences show that TV news and tabloids reach larger and more diverse audiences than broadsheets and some niche broadcasting channels. In all three countries, while there were no significant relationships between media use and trust in government, there was some evidence to support the mobilization hypothesis: the use of broadsheets and politically opinionated weekly news magazines had a strong positive relationship with political engagement that remained when controlling for political interest and a number of sociodemographic characteristics. Our research suggests that the malaise versus mobilization debate continues to be an important basis for studying these more recent democracies.

Media Uses and Effects in New Democracies: The Case of Poland’s 2005 Parliamentary and Presidential Elections

To what extent are established democracies and new democracies moving closer together in terms of the impact of media messages in electoral campaigns? Drawing on a content analysis of main evening television news on flagship programs over two months during the Polish National Election Study’s two-wave panel study (N = 1,200) spanning parliamentary and presidential elections in September and October 2005, the authors identify the impact of media use on political knowledge, political participation, and political learning. They demonstrate the positive effect of media use on political knowledge, on participation in a variety of campaign activities other than voting, and on the stabilization of issue positions. Findings support those from recent elections in established democracies. The study suggests that in the context of more highly volatile electorates in the new democracies of East-Central Europe, campaign information in the news media plays a critical role in campaigns and electoral outcomes.

Welfare-State Attitudes and Electoral Outcomes in Poland and Hungary

Poles and Hungarians became accustomed to welfare-state benefits under the communists, but this had surprisingly little influence on their voting behavior when the communist era ended. The party systems that emerged in both countries defused the threat of anti-reform backlash.

Knowledge and Partisan Bias An Uneasy Relationship

The conventional argument in studies of political knowledge among members of the general public is that greater interest and engagement in politics leads to a better grasp of the relevant facts. However, this may not always be the case: When the facts themselves become politicized, interest and engagement in politics may mean learning the facts not as they are, but as competing partisan and media elites want them to be. In this article, based on the 2010 Polish National Election Survey, we investigate the following questions: Does partisanship boost incorrect perceptions of contested facts when the correct answer is unfavorable to the respondent’s preferred party? Does partisan/ideological selectivity in exposure to media outlets do likewise? Are stronger partisans more likely to be misinformed about politically contested facts even if they are knowledgeable about the uncontested ones?

Media and campaign effects on vote choice at national elections in Europe: A review of a multilingual research landscape Medien- und Kampagneneffekte auf Wahlentscheidungen bei nationalen Hauptwahlen in Europa: Literaturbericht über eine vielsprachige Forschungslandschaft

This article reviews the empirical research literature on campaign and media effects on vote choice at national elections in European countries for the post-World War II period. Particular efforts are undertaken to obtain a comprehensive picture by including publications in many different languages. With regard to the amount of research, but also the topics addressed, the survey reveals considerable differences between countries. Studies of campaign effects have focused on the temporal dynamics of campaigns, on the modes of campaign communications (such as personal contacts at the local level, advertising on TV and in the press or online social media) and on certain aspects of its content. Research on media effects has explored the role of partisan bias and certain topical categories of news (climate of opinion, issue and candidate coverage) as well as specific new media formats, notably televised candidate debates and vote advice applications (VAA). Overall, the review reveals that there is little in the way of an integrated and consolidated body of campaign and media effects research on national elections in Europe. While political communication research increasingly acknowledges the potential importance of news media and political parties’ electioneering for voting behaviour, there appears as of yet to be little convergence regarding approaches and research findings. Particularly striking is the degree to which research questions are guided by national institutional contexts.

Media and campaign effects on vote choice at national elections in Europe : a review of a multilingual research landscape

This article reviews the empirical research literature on campaign and media effects on vote choice at national elections in European countries for the post-World War II period. Particular efforts are undertaken to obtain a comprehensive picture by including publications in many different languages. With regard to the amount of research, but also the topics addressed, the survey reveals considerable differences between countries. Studies of campaign effects have focused on the temporal dynamics of campaigns, on the modes of campaign communications (such as personal contacts at the local level, advertising on TV and in the press or online social media) and on certain aspects of its content. Research on media effects has explored the role of partisan bias and certain topical categories of news (climate of opinion, issue and candidate coverage) as well as specific new media formats, notably televised candidate debates and vote advice applications (VAA). Overall, the review reveals that there is little in the way of an integrated and consolidated body of campaign and media effects research on national elections in Europe. While political communication research increasingly acknowledges the potential importance of news media and political parties’ electioneering for voting behaviour, there appears as of yet to be little convergence regarding approaches and research findings. Particularly striking is the degree to which research questions are guided by national institutional contexts.

European Research into Media and Campaign Effects on Voting at National Elections: More Gaps than Substance, but the Substance Is Sound

This article reviews the empirical research literature on campaign and media effects on vote choice at national elections in European countries for the post-World War II period. Particular efforts are undertaken to obtain a comprehensive picture by including publications in many different languages. With regard to the amount of research, but also the topics addressed, the survey reveals considerable differences between countries. Studies of campaign effects have focused on the temporal dynamics of campaigns, on the modes of campaign communications (such as personal contacts at the local level, advertising on TV and in the press or online social media) and on certain aspects of its content. Research on media effects has explored the role of partisan bias and certain topical categories of news (climate of opinion, issue and candidate coverage) as well as specific new media formats, notably televised candidate debates and vote advice applications (VAA). Overall, the review reveals that there is little in the way of an integrated and consolidated body of campaign and media effects research on national elections in Europe. While political communication research increasingly acknowledges the potential importance of news media and political parties’ electioneering for voting behaviour, there appears as of yet to be little convergence regarding approaches and research findings. Particularly striking is the degree to which research questions are guided by national institutional contexts.

The Left Transformed in Post-Communist Societies: The Cases of East-Central Europe, Russia and Ukraine

The Left Transformed in Post-Communist Societies: The Cases of East-Central Europe, Russia and Ukraine.